Collection of works „made by schizophrenic patients“ at the Pedro Psychiatric Center

Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). Art-Transmitter.de got some information about outsider art in Brazil, although this term is not used in this description from Rio which informs in a oversized psychiatric way - less in congruence with contemporary reception of outs-ider art as (normal) part of the art scene. Self-description reads like this:

„The Museum of Images of the Unconscious had its origin in the workshops of pain-ting and modeling of the department of occupational therapy organized by Dr. Nise da Silveira in 1946 at the Peter II Psychiatric Center. It happened that the produc-tions of these workshops was so abundant and showed itself to be of such great scientific and utilitarian interest in psychiatric treatment that painting and modeling assumed a special position. From this was born the idea of organizing a museum to unite the works created in these departments with the idea of offering the research conditions for the study of images and symbols and for accompanying the evolution of clinical cases through the spontaneous plastic productions.

On the 20th of May 1952 the Museum of Images of the Unconscious was opened in a small room. On the 28th September 1956 it was moved to more spacious quarters opened in the presence of the famous psychiatrists Henry Ey, Paris; Lopez Ibor, Madrid; Ramon Sarró, Barcelona, who were in Rio at the invitation of the University of Brazil. Already by that date according to Professor Lopez Ibor, the Museum of Images of the Unconscious "had an artistic psychopathological collection unique in the world". The museum went on growing. Directly attached to the painting and mo-deling workshops, it receives every day new plastic documents. Its collection about 300.000 documents including canvases, paintings on cardboard or paper, drawings and models. The Museum is a live center for study and research on the images of the unconscious, open to students from all school of psychiatry.

On June 7th, 1978, Ronald Laing (British anti-psychiatrist, - note from editor art-transmitter.de) wrote that the work carried out here "represents an extremely im-portant contribution to the scientific study of the psychotic process". Since July 1968 a study group has functioned, as an activity of the Museum, its chief aim being the accompanying of the psychotic process by means of half-yearly exhibitions of pain-tings. This study group has a distinctly marked interdisciplinary character which al-lows for the constant exchange between clinical experience, theoretical knowledge of psychology and psychiatry, cultural anthropology, history, art and education.“

Reykjavík. Safnasafnið is one of Iceland’s most important art museums and the only one collecting folk and outsider art. It stores approximately 5.000 works, e.g. from Ingvar Ellert Óskarsson [1944-1992], Reykjavík with 615 works. These are pictures of sizes A5 to A3, made with crayon, felt¬tip pen and watercolours in the 1980s and 90s. The museum has an extensive exhibition area, a library and research facilities, as well as accommodation for tourists, visiting artists and scholars. It presents its collection together with progressive modern art without discrimination - quality and sincerity being the only guidelines.

“Outsider-art reveals itself in ancient cave art, and then later throughout history. It is diverse, special, it seldom evolves, sometimes sidesteps, but can never be categorized as belonging to a certain style or school in the strict sense of modern art.” According to this definition the museum has earned a special place on the Icelandic art scene. Every year more than a dozen new exhibitions are shown. Next opening is in spring 2017.

The Icelandic Folk and Outsider Art Museum has an 67 m2 apartment available to rent for tourists. The apartment is rented out for a minimum of two, including free wi-fi and free admission to the museum. The hosts are the Museum directors Níels Hafstein and Magnhildur Sigurðardóttir. They live in the building ajoining the museum.